14 April is annual National Dolphin Day.
Dolphins are cetacean mammals that are related to whales and porpoises. They range in size from about 1,25 metres to about 10 metres in length.
They are found worldwide and prefer the shallower seas of the continental shelves. Dolphins are carnivores and their diet consists mostly of fish and squid.
A male dolphin is called a bull, the female dolphin is a cow, a young dolphin is referred to as a calf and a group of dolphins are called a school or a pod.
Dolphins have acute eyesight – both in and out of the water – along with a well-developed sense of touch with free nerve endings densely packed in the skin. They can hear frequencies ten times or more above the upper limit of what adult humans can and are capable of making a broad range of sounds using nasal air sacs located just below the blowhole.
Dolphins are highly sociable animals and live in pods of up to a dozen dolphins. In areas where there is an abundance of food, pods will merge and form superpods which may exceed 1 000 dolphins. They form strong bonds with their pods and will stay with injured or ill individuals, sometimes helping them to breathe by bringing them to the surface if needed.
Dolphins frequently leap above the water’s surface, for various reasons, including orientation, social display, fighting, non-verbal communication, entertainment and attempting to dislodge parasites.
A study conducted by the United States National Marine Mammal Foundation found that dolphins – like humans – can develop a Type 2 diabetes. This may lead to a better understanding of the disease, as well as the development of new treatments for both dolphins and humans.
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